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M. N. Fanelli, D. Weathers, C. Littler, S. Matteson (University of North Texas)
The University of North Texas has acquired land and funding to develop a robotic observatory for use in our astronomy program. This facility will be located at a dark-sky site approximately 35 miles northwest of Denton, Texas (~ 80 miles from the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex), near the Red River. At present the design is not finalized; we envision two remotely operated, modest-sized telescopes, in the 36-40 cm range, linked to the University in Denton. The automated observatory will be used primarily for undergraduate astronomy laboratories at North Texas, permitting observational experiments that are difficult or impossible to conduct using traditional methods. Students will be able to conduct observational astronomy experiments in a manner similar to those employed in astronomical research. These experiments will become the centerpiece of the students' laboratory experience. The remote observatory complements an extensively expanded set of facilities recently developed at UNT for astronomy education, including a 100-seat Digistar II planetarium, a computer-based laboratory, and a local student observatory. Our goal is to provide an exemplary laboratory experience for students meeting a natural science curriculum requirement.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: fanelli@unt.edu